Graeme McDowell took just 63 strokes to get around Hong Kong Golf Club in a seven-under-par round that sees him just four shots off the lead going into the final 36 holes, but it was the one he took on the par-3 fifth that was the pick of the bunch by far.
The Portrush man, who started on the eighth in the shotgun start format, was already six-under-par for his round having birdied the 10th, 12th, 13th and 16th holes to cover his first nine in -4, then added two more on holes one and three before reaching the fifth tee.
From 188 yards, he took dead aim and he admitted afterwards that Wade Ormsby, playing alongside McDowell and Lee Westwood, made the early call and was proven right when it never left the flag, pitched just short and held its line.
🚨ACE ALERT🚨
GMac claims the second hole-in-one of HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong 🔥
He’s now T4 on 11-under 📈#LIVGolfHongKong | @SmashGC pic.twitter.com/yClTozbhWz
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) March 6, 2026
That took him to -11 for the tournament and to within two of the lead, but a bogey on the next and a par to finish saw him end the day four shots off the lead that’s co-held by Dean Burmester and Carlos Ortiz.
“This is one of those events on the schedule that I look at and I feel like this is a course where I can compete. Nice to be in there with — the great thing is it’s 72 holes. We’ve got a lot of golf to play,” McDowell said afterwards.
“I think that’s about 15,” he said when asked how many holes-in-one he’s had. “They’re all kind of becoming a bit of a blur over the years. It’s been about 30 years of them. They’re all fun. They’re all special. Nice to do it with a card in your pocket in a tournament. I think that’s probably half a dozen maybe in tournament play.
“No. There’s a couple of wedge par-3s here that you’re kind of licking your chops. No, on five, you don’t really stand on that tee licking the chops too much. My caddie was trying to steer me a little left of the flag, and I said to him, I think we enough club in our hands to kind of go after it a little bit. I didn’t really listen to him. It was one — I think Wade Ormsby was in the group and he kind of early called it. It looked pretty nice in the air. Obviously always a bonus when they go in.”
Along with finding himself in the mix going into the weekend, McDowell’s exploits helped Smash GC to a -16 tally for the day which takes them to -35 overall, giving them a five-stroke advantage over Torque in the team standings, with Legion XIII a further four back on -26.
It was also a good day for the other Irishman in the field. Tom McKibbin may have been a late arrival in Hong Kong after his travel issues from the Middle East where he now lives, but after a two-under opening round, he shot a bogey-free five-under 65 to climb into a share of 17th place at the golf course where he completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Hong Kong Open last November.
Jon Rahm, who posted back-to-back runner-up finishes in the first two LIV events of 2026, shot the low round of the day and his 62 moved him into a share of fourth place at -12, two behind the leading duo and one adrift of Thomas Detry who lies solo third.
“Really good day of golf. There’s no other way of saying it,” Rahm said after his round. “Did okay off the tee, which I think is one of the keys out here. It’s not the longest golf course, so you can put those tee shots in the fairway and you’re going to have a lot of opportunities to attack, and did just that. If I had to say an MVP of the day, it’s the putter. Made a lot of good putts, made a lot of mid-range putts from 15 to 20 feet, which can’t be taken for granted. It’s a fun day on the greens.”
The former world number one has now gone 26 starts without a tournament win, and he feels that a slight improvement in his tee-to-green play will see him end that drought sooner rather than later.
“I need to do a little bit better ball-striking wise,” he explained. “Yesterday was not great. Today it was better but not as comfortable as I would like to be. Coming down the stretch in pressure situations I’m going to need to play a little bit better than that or at least swing a little bit better than I have so far. Clearly I’m doing just good enough to be in the hunt and hopefully get a little bit better every day.”
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